Fences to Be Erected on Stretch of Metrolink Line : Transportation: A new agency approves the expenditure of $800,000 in tax money to install safety devices in the wake of a series of East Valley rail deaths.

Responding to a series of rail deaths in the San Fernando Valley, a county transportation panel voted Wednesday to spend more than $800,000 to install warning signs, ditches and fences along a 2-mile stretch of Metrolink tracks in Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima.

The project, approved unanimously by the newly formed Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is a pilot effort that, if successful, can be duplicated in other highly populated areas where pedestrians routinely cross railroad tracks to get to school or work, authority officials said.

Eight people have been killed in seven Metrolink accidents since the commuter rail service began in October. Six of those deaths occurred along a nine-mile stretch of track between Sylmar and Pacoima on the line between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Clarita. The other two deaths occurred along the Los Angeles-to-Moorpark line, one in Chatsworth and one in Simi Valley.

In the most recent accident, a 47-year-old woman committed suicide March 19 by kneeling on the tracks in Sylmar in the path of a speeding Metrolink train. She left a note in her car nearby, saying she was despondent over her family life.

The fencing project was also backed earlier Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission at its final meeting before it disbanded and turned over its functions to the new transportation authority. Because it was the Transportation Commission’s final meeting, all decisions to spend more than $100,000 were automatically referred to the authority for final approval.

During the authority meeting, Supervisor Ed Edelman, a board member who represents the East Valley area where several of the accidents occurred, called the project “a priority item.”

“We need to get the fence up to protect the people that could wander on the tracks,” he said.

The $863,760 project calls for installing 60 “No Trespassing” signs, 3,000 yards of 8-foot chain-link fencing, 1,000 yards of wrought-iron fencing and 16 gates. In addition, improvements would be made to a ditch between Brand Boulevard and Wolfskill Street that borders San Fernando Middle School in San Fernando. Erosion along the ditch has undermined a fence separating the school and the tracks, creating openings below the wire that children can crawl through.

The fencing and other improvements can be installed as early as April or May, officials said. Funding for the project will come from money raised by Proposition C, a half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in November, 1990, for transit projects.

One of the speakers voicing support for the fencing program was Bob D’Amato, an Encino resident and longtime critic of the Transportation Commission.

“People just don’t understand how fast these trains travel,” he said, noting that Metrolink trains roll at up to 80 m.p.h. “This thing is like a rocket coming down.”

Mark Dierking, manager of the project for the commission, said he has discussed the type and design of the fence with officials from the city of San Fernando and representatives of Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who represents the Pacoima and Sylmar areas. He said additional meetings will be held soon with other community leaders before final details of the project are decided.

Metrolink officials have said it would be impractical to install fencing along all lines because the rail system will eventually have 400 miles of track in five counties. But if the fencing program is successful at reducing pedestrian deaths by Metrolink trains, it may be duplicated in other highly populated areas, they said.

In another Metrolink matter, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to assume responsibility for almost $1.6 million that Ventura County officials have refused to pay for commuter rail service.

Ventura County’s share for operating the Metrolink trains from downtown Los Angeles to Moorpark is $1.715 million annually, according to a formula approved by the five-county Southern California Regional Rail Authority.

But Ventura County officials have said the formula puts an unfair burden on them, and have offered to pay no more than $750,000 annually in operating costs, plus another $115,000 for insurance, until costs are recalculated.

To make up the shortfall, the Metropolitan Transit Authority agreed to pay $828,000 annually for fiscal 1992-93 and 1993-94, in addition to Los Angeles County’s present $3.8-million annual share of expenses for the Los Angeles-to-Moorpark line.

Ventura officials hope that a new cost-allocation formula to be drafted in 1994 will reduce their share by taking into consideration the fact that 47% of the line’s riders come from Ventura County, and consequently Ventura County residents are paying a large share of the line’s expenses through ticket sales.